13 to Watch in '13 Update: Jarrod Hennis and Britney Lindgren

Saturday

Dec 28, 2013 at 11:30 AM

ROCKFORD - In December 2012 Rockford Art Deli was three months old, and its owners hoped sales from T-shirts they printed and artwork they displayed on their walls would help expand both their business and downtown's art scene..

Jarrod Hennis and Britney Lindgren say after thousands of shirt sales and a dozen art shows, they've accomplished their goals.

"Oh yeah," said Hennis, 31, who with Lindgren, 28, opened their store at 402 E. State St. in September 2012.

Hennis said sales are up compared with September-December of last year and noted that the Stroll on State holiday event Nov. 30 "helped us a lot."

Now they're focused on growth. They're buying new equipment for shirt printing "so we'll be able to keep up with demand." And they'll sell shirts online in 2014.

As for the art scene, Hennis said sales of artwork were good. He hopes that artists see that there's demand for their work here, too.